Zebco202

War Eagle spinnerbait with single colorado blade. Black preferred. My go to in low light/dark conditions. Always has been. I don't throw many colors in spinnerbaits. It's either black or white.

I'm in Ooltewah. Fish around Harrison Bay and Wolftever all the time. Drop me a message sometime and we'll meet up on a bank somewhere. Welcome to the area.

5" senko almost exclusively. I have found the black one's work best for me. Matter of fact, had a great day on the river yesterday with a black senko.

This has been a great thread to read through. I love youtube, but I mostly watch guitar videos (my other obsession) or old college or NFL football games. Never really looked around for fishing videos I've just followed a lot of those mentioned in this thread. I'm looking for instructional type videos...if you guys have others that haven't been listed here please share. I fished some as a kid but not much as my dad wasn't into it. I had some friends who fished and so I went a lot with them. I didn't pick up fishing again until age 33 in 2006 and that's when I found his website. This has been such a great resource (pun intended). As someone mentioned earlier, I wish I would have had someone to be a mentor but that didn't happen, so I've learned over the years by reading this site and then going out and trying to see what works and what doesn't. Appreciate all you guys who contribute.

4/0 EWG off set hooks. I'm not brand particular, I use Eagle Claw and Bass Pro brands the most. Never had a hook up problem.

Buzz bait for me in the summer is my go to lure for top water. I use a spook and a pop'r type lure in the spring. Don't produce the same numbers for me that a buzz bait does during the summer. Love it when a fish blows up on one. That's one of the greatest things in bass fishing.

I've been a member here since 2006 and I do more reading than posting. This forum turned me on to the Senko which is one of my confidence baits. It has also turned me on the Fat Ika's. I've made half hearted efforts to fish a Fat Ika off and on since 2006. Well, today, I decided to go fishing and all I took was a back of Fat Ika's and five 5/0 hooks. Fishing from a pier next to a boat ramp, I was casting towards the rock bank. Using a hopping or "jigging" (as I call it) retrieve. Lift the rod slowly to about 1 o'clock, drop it down, reel up the slack line and do it again. I finally got my first fish on a Fat Ika. Not a big one mind you but at least it was a fish. Only got to fish for about 45 minutes or so and that was the only one I caught but very happy none the less. Anyone with any other retrieves that work with a Fat Ika? My new thing this spring has been each time I go out I take one or two lures with me. Things I have but really haven't had much success with before So far it's worked. I've caught more fish this spring than I have in a long time and I've learned how to fish some new lures/baits. Recommended for any of you guys like me with a box/bag/boat full of stuff you've bought but never have got it wet or really given yourself a chance to learn how to use it.

Can someone tell me how to post a picture? I don't have anything all that impressive but thought I would contribute to the topic.... Most of my stuff is old. At least 6-7 years or older. I haven't bought a new rod/reel in a while. Spinning: Mitchell 308X Reel - Mitchell Classic II Rod 6-0 Med. Daiwa Cygnus Combo 2500-B reel, Rod - CYF662MRS 6-6 Med Mitchell Avocet S2000 Combo - Rod: 7-0 Med Daiwa Capricorn 1500XTC - Rod - Shimano Jimmy Houston Classic 6-6 Med Quantum Octane Combo, Octane 10 - Rod 5-6 Light Daiwa Sweepfire A-4000 - Rod - Bass Pro XPS Performance Graphite 6-6 MH Casting: Pflueger Criterion CTN440 - Rod - Berkley Bionix IM-50 6-6 Med. Pflueger Trion Combo - Rod - 6-6 MH Shimano Bantam Crestfire CR200B - Rod - Quantum QP60M 6-0 Med. Shimano Bantam Curado CU200B5 - Shimano Jimmy Houston 6-6 Med Quantum Inferno IN50CX - Rod - BPS Graphite Series 7-0 MH. Quantum Accurist AC500PT - Rod - Quantum Tour Edition PT 6-6 MH Daiwa Megaforce 100TSH - Rod - Quantum Tournament Grade 6-6 MH Bass Pro Shop Johnny Morris JMP1-OH - Rod - Challenger 7-0 MH I love me some baitcasters. I really need to look at up grading my spinning gear, but what I have works and they all catch fish. Couple of extra rods in the garage that I don't have anything to put on them Spinning: Daiwa Procaster Tournament 6-6 MH Casting: Berkley Lightening Rod 5-6 MH Casting: Berkly Lightening Rod 6-0 MH Casting: Berkley Graphite Rod 5-6 Med - bought this rod at K-Mart about 25 years (or more) ago.

I was out of town and visited BPS this weekend. I spent less than $60 so the BM didn't have too tight a grip on me. Of course I also wrote a check last week for $1,200 to the federal government so that will slow down your spending a bit. They had Cotton Cordel Superspots on sale so I bought a few of those. Gambler Giggy Sticks Several packs of trick worms and finesse worms a few packs of shakey heads and few new jigs. That was about it.

Welcome aboard! Enjoy your stay.

Ditto. I don't subscribe to any but when I go to Wal-Mart or Barnes and Noble I will usually pick up one of these.

I have a couple of the Classic Pattern DVD's. I bought mine on sale last summer at BPS. I watched the KVD "Clear Water Spinnerbaits" last night. Good stuff. The other I have is on structure fishing. It's okay. I like the KVD one better.

ANother vote for the Okeechobee Fats bag. I also have a smaller Plano bag that I will take sometimes as well.

Cool, after reading these post, I'm going to have to try these out.

Buzz Baits (Black) Zoom Finesse Worms (Watermelon Candy) Bandit 200 Series Crankbaits (Baby Bass) Senkos 5" (Watermelon/Black Flake)

I listen to it on the radio. They had Gerald Swindle on. ESPN Radio has also been doing Bassmaster updates during their hourly Sportscenter reports.

Dicks is okay as someone said earlier it's about a step above wal-mart. Pretty much all I look at is the sale items.

I use a 6.3:1 for most everything with a few exceptions: 5.1:1 for cranks 7.0:1 for burning spinner baits and topwater lures (Buzz baits etc...)

There have been some good post here. JWO1124 made some really good points. I wish he would posted that about two years ago before I started tournament fishing. LOL One thing that you need to consider, are you fishing as a boater or as a non-boater? If your fishing as a boater get whatever you feel you need an can afford. (yes the bait monkey has that tight of a grip on me that I say crazy stuff like that, oh what the heck, go buy a few things you can't afford, there I said it, now someone get this monkey away from me) Really though, in my club we have some guys that will have as many as 10 rods rigged and on deck during a tournament. Seeing as how I am boat poor, I fish as a non-boater which means I'm regulated to someone's back seat. So when i go to fish a tournament I take two things into consideration when it comes to tackle and gear. 1.) How does the boater fish? Does he fish fast and cover lots of water? Does he fish slow? I love Shakey Heads and Senkos but some guys fish too fast for me to fish that way effectively. So I have to keep that in mind when decided what gear to take. If I'm fishing with a guy that I know fishes "tight to the bank" that will change what I take. If I'm fishing with someone who likes to fish fast and cover a lot of water, I probably won't take my flipping stick. I try to compliment (not copy) what the guy in the front of the boat is doing. However, if he starts to catch fish, I'll be quick to change lures or presentation. 2.) How big of a boat will I be on? As a non-boater the last thing I want to be is a distration or get in the way of the boater. I try to be considerate. If the guy has a 16 foot Bass Tracker, I'm probably going to limit myself to 3 or 4 roads and a small plano tackle box that holds 4 360 size boxes. If I'm fishing with a guy that has a 19 or 20 foot Triton or Nitro, I'll probably bring five rods and a bigger tackle bag. Sorry for the long post but my point is I let who I'm fishing with kind of dictate how I fish and what gear I bring.

I have the exact same tote. THat's what I store my rods on in my garage. Should work fine for bank fishing, however, when fishing from the bank I usually only carry one, maybe two (usually spinning reels) so as to cut down on the clutter.

I use a 7foot medium action spinning rod with 6 pound mono

I have nothing in my tackle box that is red. I have been noticing it seems to be a must have. As for the spinner i have a few white ones. What Brand Lipless crankbait in Red should i Feed the bait monkey with? Can't beat the old Rat-L-Trap although I'm really beginning to like the Excalibur XR series of lipless cranks. They have one that is a craw color and one that is Rayburn Red. Both are favorites of mine. I've just picked up some of the new Strike King Lipless cranks but I have yet to get them wet. For spring time I also like Chrome/Blue rat-l-traps and a black/blue jig. White and chartruse or a plain white spinnerbait.

What kind of retreive do you use with these? I have seen them at Wal-Mart and other places but I have yet to pick any up. Can you fish it like a fluke or other soft jerk baits?

I am a Shakey Head addict, I use it all the time. I've tried the Spot Removers (stand-up) jig heads and I have not had as much luck with them as I have had the Arkie heads. I've just picked up someof the other types of heads that I will try out this spring but so far, it's going to be hard to get me off the arkie ball heads. they just flat out catch fish, i can buy them when I go to wal-mart and they are cheaper than others i've tried. As for worms Zoom Finesse (watermelon candy). I have yet to try any of the other finesse or "shakey" worms but I plan to this spring/summer. But the Arkie ball head with a Zoom Finesse in Watermelon Candy was my number one producer of fish last summer/fall.

I haven't been to Lake "G" since last spring so I can't comment on the current state of fishing. I can recommend the Bar B Que at Mudcreek Bar-B-Que. Some good eatin'. Have a great (and safe) time.